Vote on the 1980-2012 runners up (sans 2009-10 of course)

[Deck Pic]

OTTOMH including some suggestions, quick and dirty

[MN Transplant]

Went with '82.

I have never hated an 8"+ storm more than 2/11/06

What year was the Jan 25-27?

[Deck Pic]

Went with '82.

I have never hated an 8"+ storm more than 2/11/06

What year was the Jan 25-27?

2004...one of my favorite events..was supposed to be suppressed and came up the coast as usual..though virga forever

Was at Caps-Flyers game when it started.....Snow all evening and overnight with temps in the mid teens.....maybe 4-5"....then changed to freezing rain/drizzle next morning and continued all day, all night and into the next day nonstop.....temps slowly climbed into the 20s....switched back to sleet then snow for a few hours that evening then stopped....48 hour event with no lull.....sidewalks and streets downtown crusted and almost unwalkable...when it switched back Tuesday night became a nightmare for those who were working....I recorded 6" for the event....I think DCA was around 5" or slightly more....

[Fozz]

2004...one of my favorite events..was supposed to be suppressed and came up the coast as usual..though virga forever

Was at Caps-Flyers game when it started.....Snow all evening and overnight with temps in the mid teens.....maybe 4-5"....then changed to freezing rain/drizzle next morning and continued all day, all night and into the next day nonstop.....temps slowly climbed into the 20s....switched back to sleet then snow for a few hours that evening then stopped....48 hour event with no lull.....sidewalks and streets downtown crusted and almost unwalkable...when it switched back Tuesday night became a nightmare for those who were working....I recorded 6" for the event....I think DCA was around 5" or slightly more....

Fun storm, but too bad winter pretty much ended after that.

[ORH_wxman]

Jan 1988 was a pretty underrated stretch in DC.

[Deck Pic]

Jan 1988 was a pretty underrated stretch in DC.

I thought about including that. I should have. It was one of my favorite months.

[Huffwx]

Feb 22, 87 hands down.(new castle, DE)

Had to rake leaves with a WsWatch in place-- initial forecast was plane up to 8 inches when upgrade to warning. Temp dropped from mid 40s to mid 30's and down to freezing when snow started and eventually down to freezing. Funny thing is that the NWS dropped expectations to 4-5 inches on the forecast. It was the only time I recall an " up to 8" without a bottom number and then the 4-5 inches. as a number too.

My Dad actually sent me to bed around 11 thinking we'd have school because the grass was covered but nothing on the road-- I was up an hour or two later in the good stuff and up the rest of the night. We only got Monday off school-- it was a fast melter too.

I lived literally a mile from ILG-- they reported 14.4. I remember thinking it was ironic. We had 14.4 on sidewalk just as it ended but the pool deck and neighbors picnic table was 17.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

Unlike the previous poll, I will vote on this one, as it has a clear winner to me- the January 2000 snowstorm. For the following reasons:

-The 14.9 inches at BWI is still a top 15 snowfall

-It was a complete surprise to forecasters

-It occurred under an extremely unfavorable pattern (strong La Nina, +AO/+NAO)

-It occurred in a winter that was generally warm and snowless for much of the nation

-It still holds a strong influence in all winter weather discussions: go to any weather board in winter, where a complete hopeless storm is being discussed, and some weenie wishcaster at some point will ALWAYS throw out "remember January 2000!" into the conversation. And you know, despite the odds, that he or she may end up being right...

Also, I'm glad Feb. 1995 got on the list. For some reason, I still remember that one here as a kid. That's still a daily snowfall record for Feb. 4. at BWI.

[Fozz]

Unlike the previous poll, I will vote on this one, as it has a clear winner to me- the January 2000 snowstorm. For the following reasons:

-The 14.9 inches at BWI is still a top 15 snowfall

-It was a complete surprise to forecasters

-It occurred under an extremely unfavorable pattern (strong La Nina, +AO/+NAO)

-It occurred in a winter that was generally warm and snowless for much of the nation

-It still holds a strong influence in all winter weather discussions: go to any weather board in winter, where a complete hopeless storm is being discussed, and some weenie wishcaster at some point will ALWAYS throw out "remember January 2000!" into the conversation. And you know, despite the odds, that he or she may end up being right...

Jan 2000 was amazing and I wish I remembered it a bit better, I was 9 and a half.

But one correction, the NAO was negative when it happened........the AO was slightly + but just coming out of negative.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

Jan 2000 was amazing and I wish I remembered it a bit better, I was 9 and a half.

But one correction, the NAO was negative when it happened........the AO was slightly + but just coming out of negative.

I pulled the NAO numbers from this page:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/pna/norm.nao.monthly.b5001.current.ascii.table

Though I hadn't considered that the number there was the monthly average, so it could've been negative during the time of the storm.

[Deck Pic]

I pulled the NAO numbers from this page:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/pna/norm.nao.monthly.b5001.current.ascii.table

Though I hadn't considered that the number there was the monthly average, so it could've been negative during the time of the storm.

It wasn't an ideal Atlantic pattern but there was an east based block.

[stormitecture]

I really don't see much of a debate here. Anytime a significant set of events hits during a severe weather event it tends to automatically get brought to the front of the line. Like the Knickerbacker storm in 1922. So the Florida flight day in 1982 would take the lead.

[MN Transplant]

I'm not saying that it should win, but I think the TS Lee remnants probably deserved a spot on this list.

[Fozz]

I'm not saying that it should win, but I think the TS Lee remnants probably deserved a spot on this list.

Agreed. It was the heaviest rain event that I can recall.

[Deck Pic]

I'm not saying that it should win, but I think the TS Lee remnants probably deserved a spot on this list.

I did a pretty bad job with the non snow events.